Anthony Shadid, RIP

Anthony Shadid, a two-time Pulitzer winning Middle East correspondent, died yesterday of an apparent asthma attack while on assignment in Syria for the New York Times. He was 43. I had the pleasure of working with Anthony briefly in Egypt when he was still with the Boston Globe. He was a class act. It’s no wonder that the journalist community is reacting so strongly. He leaves behind a void. My deepest condolences go out to his wife, New York Times reporter Nada Bakri, and to his two young children. RIP Anthony.

A Weekend With Saint Francis

I have a new love. His name is Francisco. I just returned from San Francisco a few days ago and was quite taken by the place – namely the weather. The sun was shining, the birds were a singin’. It was a lovely getaway overall. This, from a New Yorker who has, essentially, been trained from birth to assume her coast is superior. Did you know that the “Chinese” fortune cooking was invented in San Francisco – by a Japanese family?! I kid you not. The country’s first Chinese immigrants came to San Francisco in 1848. The Japanese Hagiwara family invented “Chinese” fortune cookies at Golden Gate Park’s Tea Garden, and at Chinatown’s Ross Alley fortune cookie factory, a funny looking contraption churned them out by the dozens. Who knew?! PS – San Francisco cable cars are the only moving National Historic Landmark.

San Francisco's Golden Gate (Photo by Vivian Salama)